Southern California -- this just in

Chaotic scene as gunman opens fire at USC Halloween party

November 1, 2012 | 12:37
am

A witness described a chaotic scene late Wednesday when a gunman opened fire at a USC Halloween party, injuring several people.

A USC student, who asked not to be named, said a student group was hosting the party and that it was at maximum capacity. The witness said there were about 100 people outside -- as well as some campus police -- when at least four shots rang out.

"Everyone started running. I saw a guy who was shot in the leg. He was limping and screaming for his friends to help him. 'I got shot. can someone give me a ride?' His friends were helping him walk," the witness said. "People were screaming and running away."

LAPD sources said it was
unclear whether the victims or the gunman were students at the campus.

Police officers were swarming the area. USC urged people on campus to shelter in place and keep their doors closed.

The condition of the victims was not immediately known.

USC said on its Twitter feed that the LAPD had confirmed a shooting at the campus center and included a photo of police taping off an area.

In April, two graduate students were fatally shot in what authorities said was a botched robbery a few miles from the campus.

The deaths stunned the university, which announced a string of new security measures.

Two men were arrested in May and charged with those killings.

In 2008, University of Southern California sprinter and now Olympic
medalist Bryshon Nellum was shot in the leg three times at a Halloween
party. Nellums, then a sophomore at USC, accompanied a track recruit to
the party, which was just off campus.